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The Four Seasons Vancouver has conquered the highest rating for Eco-friendly hotels. This title and rating is only given to 30 hotels nationwide and is extremely competitive in nature. Any hotel has the ability to qualify and is evaluated in several aspects consisting of the following: operational areas, sustainable practices and community outreach efforts. The Four Seasons Vancouver has switched over to a unique heating system that is reducing gas emissions, installed newly efficient LED lighting that will last for up to 40 years, participates in an Eco-friendly laundry system for par linen, offers sustainable dining options and donates to local organizations. Along with public recognition, going green has perks that not only benefit the environment but the hotel as well. The Four Seasons Vancouver has taken many drastic initiatives that will be in place for years to come. This says a lot about this individual property and Four Seasons as a hotel brand. It's exciting to see the opportunity for more hotels to go Green and be the change that we all would like to see.

Travelers prefer to stay at green hotels. Major corporations such as Marriott, Hyatt, and Hilton & Starwood are looking for ways to integrate green into their hotels while conserving water and energy. Not only is the focus on going green going to impact the environment but also will impact the bottom line which is the dollars. This article shows how the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois has been able to go green to benefit both the company and the environment. The amount of items they are able to recycle is amazing; it is great that the company can also focus on the disposal of foods. As we continue to focus on the environment, more and more companies will continue to find ways to help reduce cost while protecting the environment. At the Walt Disney World Resort, guest can tour facilities and are educated on how the company impacts the environment through their recycling programs worldwide.

This article talks about the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and the different steps they have taken to Go Green. They have significantly reduced their water and electricity consumption with the "When not in use, turn off the juice" project. Along with saving water and energy, they have also begun recycling. They recycle, paper, plastic, cardboard, light bulbs and the list goes on. They are also taking the time to educate their employees as well. "To encourage participation in programs such as 'When Not in Use, Turn Off the Juice,' employee awareness days are held. Compact fluorescent light bulbs are given to employees to help them save energy at home." The hotel has a green team who meet quarterly to continue growing in their sustainability initiatives. The Hyatt Regency McCormick Place is Green Key certified and has been recognized and awarded for their Green efforts.

The Passkey's GroupMAX ME is a big progress during the housing management service area. It major effect is promoting the efficiency of management in meeting, convention or event. It makes the meeting management become more professional. LA Tourism managers can organize the conventions and meetings that were more safe, consistent and portable by using GroupMAX ME on their hand. The technology could make participants easily and efficiently find hotel reservations in office. And meeting professionals could be easy to track inventory online. GroupMAX ME could help meeting professionals to avoid an excess of reservation fee because it could directly connect hotel property management system or central reservation system.

The Passkey's GroupMAX ME is a big progress during the housing management service area. It major effect is promoting the efficiency of management in meeting, convention or event. It makes the meeting management become more professional. LA Tourism managers can organize the conventions and meetings that were more safe, consistent and portable by using GroupMAX ME on their hand. The technology could make participants easily and efficiently find hotel reservations in office. And meeting professionals could be easy to track inventory online. GroupMAX ME could help meeting professionals to avoid an excess of reservation fee because it could directly connect hotel property management system or central reservation system.

Cvent, the world's largest cloud-based provider of event management, venue selection and web survey solutions, operates the number one marketplace for group meeting business in the works and has driven $3.4 billion in meeting spend through the Cvent Supplier Network through the first half of 2012. The strong network provided by Cvent gather the international booking outside of North America and increase 42% meeting volume based on its strong network. Vice President of Sales for the Cvent said the network bring all market participants together and to improve the sourcing process and deliver value for everyone invloved. The value includes more than 200,000 hotels and special event venues worldwide, providing one-stop shopping for meetings buyers and sourcing professionals. The network also extends suppliers' reach to new customers helping hoes maximize their existing sales & marking resources and increasing their opportunities overall. Cvent also developed a platform hotels can use to help hotels develop response templates to provide faster answers to planners, allowing hotels to pre-populate RFPs with basic information and clone responses to common requests. It also proactively guides planners, helping them create better RFPs by, for example, sending a warning prompt when a venue cannot satisfy a request such as number of sleeping rooms.

Hotel de Paris in opulent Monte Carlo, Monaco pleasantly surprises as a forerunner in the hospitality industry's green revolution. Prince Albert II leads by example after having a 'sustainably' lavish wedding using local and fair-trade products. Even though "mullet carpaccio" does not sound delectable to me; I am sure world renowned Chef Alain Ducasse knows how to transform the ordinary into extraordinary. Prince Albert II went so far to even have his cows supply the milk for his ice cream dessert, I call that dedication. With such excellent leadership and funding in the green initiative the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation addresses three major environmental issues: climate change, biodiversity and water consumption. Because of the Foundation visitors to Monaco participate in the green initiative with or without their knowledge. The casino, four hotels, several restaurants and spas all educate their staff on how to "be green." Hybrid shuttles, organic farming, reclaimed watering, on-site herb gardens and the banning of bluefin tuna are all examples of how the hospitality industry in Monaco has gone green. Monaco's will and initiative in the green revolution is inspiring. I hope that every hotel worldwide can try to adopt some of these practices and look to Monaco as a role model.

The Sabre Eco-Certified Hotel Program builds upon Travelocity's Green Hotel Directory, launched in 2009, and extends the program company-wide to recognize hotels that are certified as sustainable according to the Global Sustainable Tourism Council's guidelines. Travelocity is still the only major online travel company that helps users find green hotels with an eco-friendly tag.The program addresses travelers' growing desire for environmentally responsible accommodations and includes more than 4,700 hotels certified by globally-recognized certification programs. The 4,700+ hotels participating in the program will be clearly distinguished in Sabre's Global Distribution System (GDS) and reflected in other Sabre platforms. Sabre is keenly focused on the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the travel industry and we are committed to providing our customers with products and services that help them promote these same long-term values throughout their businesses." In addition, Sabre's resolve that standards are important for the travel industry directed an industry-leading path for standards with the introduction of carbon calculation and reporting tools for airlines, hotels, and car rental companies.

This Article based on an Apple iPhone App for Swiss hotel Students is about how some 80 international students from IMI University Centre in Luzern collected data to create the world's first crowd-sourced student guide. The iPhone app is connected with Luzern Tourism, which contains its own tourism guide of the city. The app itself also collects many insider tips for the students who currently live in Switzerland. This Iphone App is free and is categorized in 7 different ways one is "Top Info" which is essential for all international students, "Top Rumors", "Why Luzern?" which explains the ten top reasons for why Luzern is the best place to study, "Do's and Don't's" explaining the things that are important to know about Swiss culture, "Education", "Food", and "Student Gems" which are special tips and selections of all students who participate at version 1.0.

The article highlighted the five top technologies that are quite effective and beneficial for events: 1. Smart phones: Smart phones have the ability to look up suppliers when on the move, for example the ability to respond to emails as well as monitor and respond to the social media. Another benefit is the ability for to do list and scheduled to be created. This is very critical in the time management of events. 2. Saas Cloud Application (software as a service): The advantage is to have access form any web enabled device. This will reduce printing cost and provide the ability to customize reports. Meeting Planners can use Saas to link event management system with customer relationship systems eg. Saleforce. This allows efficient data transfer to both speakers and attendees. 3. Virtual Events: Webiners like gotomeeting.com give participants the ability to attend meetings from multiple locations. This can be save time and money. The only drawback in the personal interaction however, for quick group meetings and presentations this can be quite convenient. 4. Social Media and Viral Marketing: One out of every three persons spend three or more hours on-line per day. The sharing of events though social media sites is highly beneficial for both planners and attendees. Smart planners get participants to market to people within their network. 5. Ipads and Tablets: No more big boxes of binders to ship home form a conference. This means huge saving for bit planners and attendees. Access for information can be controlled at registration point. Information is easily transferred to ones device

I agree every event planner I met at SOBEWFF was on their Ipad 24/7- you sort of feel out of the loop without one. However while observing the benefits of new technology, increased response rates and efficiency, there were still issues that required a phone call rather than an e-mail. In the planning stage this technology is all very helpful but the day of personal interaction is required. Also as far as CRM event planners are still very hands on in terms of making their presence known through face-to-face interactions. The industry still relies heavily on personal relationships.

This article talks about the 5 most important tools that an event planner needs to use. 1.Smart phones- this one is an easy one. We all know how important our smart phones are to us. Smart phones allow us to have so many different applications at our fingertips. 2.SaaS cloud applications-"software as a service" these applications have opened up a new way to view things in the event planning industry. These applications allow the planners to use their ipads and tablets to allow them to connect with other applications like salesforce, to deal with customers in an easy manner. 3.Virtual events-these events like "webinars and live feed "have become popular it gives viewers the sense of being at the event. Webinars are also very popular because it allows planners to get more people to "be" at the event for a lower cost. 4.Social Media- because sites like Facebook and Twitter have become so popular it makes sense that this would be important to events because people are often commenting of places they have been to. 5.iPads and Tablets-because they add a sense of simplicity and organization to the madness that is party planning

The Hotel Show has put it focus into green initiatives and businesses that present the products to help businesses in the hospitality sector to "go green." The show brings in businesses and hosts seminars that help hospitality-based businesses make their "green" contribution by buying products and conducting practices that yield results like reducing energy output.

Summary: The variety of gifting options has grown from a simple plastic gift card to virtual cards delivered by email, text, debit/credit cards and more. The prediction for 2013 will exceed a billion dollars of digital gifting for the holiday season and continue to grow. Digital gift cards have made giving easy due to the convenience of redemption. Paper coupons have proven to be successful to draw in consumer activity, but the digital revolution in virtual gifting is expected to explode as people are so connected to their mobile devices. Even with the convenience and growing popularity of digital gifting comes barriers and security issues. Such issues include personal banking security and privacy. Some small to midsize businesses may not be able to participate in digital gifting due to cost barriers or lack of technology. Due to electronic process, paper receipts will be obsolete. Computers aren't perfect so how does one resolve dollar discrepancies. One benefit of virtual giving is the bar codes/QR codes. Companies are able to collect and retain additional information of givers and receivers by scanning the bar code/QR Code. Often people are reluctant to provide contact information, but in this case they aren't being asked, they have no choice. This is a benefit to the companies because they can make other promotional offers to engage and possibly retain both parties, thereby increasing sales. There are a variety of methods of virtual gifting and redemption. One example is Giftly. Giftly adds the value of the gift to the recipient's credit or debit card which can be used anywhere. This is super convenient for many people and they are able to choose whatever they wish rather than receive a gift chosen for them. This is certainly the digital age version of sending a check via mail to a loved one. Other corporate examples that have impacted the transition from plastic gift cards to virtual gifting are Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, Applebee's and Starbu

Ebookers.com has a new rewards program being introduced called Bonus+, with a focus on mobile use. They have done research and developed a program that allows travelers to earn rewards on hotel bookings, packaged trips and flight bookings. Bonus+ offers a membership which has three tiers to their program. If customers reach gold or platinum status, they offer a 24-hr support for hotel bookings and free upgrades at participating hotels. If customers are to book through their mobile app, they receive more discounts on bookings. This concept is very interesting and I'd like to see how much it will effect the status of travel agents. It will be interesting to see how many more companies will try to come out with rewards programs like Bonus+.

Follow this link to learn how a jammer works: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone-jammer1.htm Recently, Marriott was found to be noncompliant with FCC regulations that ban the use of any "Jammer"-to include cell, radio, Wi-Fi and others-by any individual or entity that is not an approved federal agent. The result? A $600,000 fine and removal of the jamming equipment from any Marriott property currently participating in the illegal activity. In a regular Wi-Fi network, a user connects to the Internet by connecting to the ISP, which could be a wired modem and separate Wi-Fi router or a combined wireless modem/router that will connect the computer to the ISP server and allow the user to launch their browser where they can search the web or access a particular URL. In Marriott's case, the company utilized a Jammer to prevent users from accessing their chosen ISP-their personal Wi-Fi networks, typically provided via cell phone companies. The jammer functioned by interrupting Wi-Fi signals that operated on a particular frequency. By placing their own Wi-Fi on a different frequency, Marriott's service was the only signal capable of connecting a user to an ISP service and the Internet and was therefore offered at a premium price. The management decision to utilize this technology was short sighted and over all a very poor decision. The decision was made based on the greed of money. By jamming competitors' signals, Marriott was attempting to force patrons into paying premium prices for Wi-Fi service during their stay, including large business accounts (meetings and events). What Marriott either failed to research or decided to ignore was the legality of such a decision. According to the FCC, Jammers of all types are strictly illegal except by approved Federal Entities and Agents. The Marriott management team made their own bed by making a poorly evaluated decision that has since come back to bite them in the rear.

This short article reminded me of the example given in class by Professor Cilli of the how FIU is trying to improve the way they track student attendance to certain events.  I think it's interesting that Eventbrite information will now be used in political campaigns. I believe the way information will be regularly up to date is a great way to track participants and always have the correct, relevant information on them. 

The hotel and hospitality industry has become aware of the green revolution. Hotel guests are now leaning towards hotels that are environmentally friendly. This has lead to hotels establishing environmental programs, growing their our fruits and vegetables for use in the hotel restaurant, non- daily towl and sheet cycling, etc. There has also been an increase in eco-tourism. If the hospitality industry wishes to capitalize on the green revolution they should follow the trend closely.

This article discusses the advantages of having a "green" hotel and how much it impacts the guest experience, in a positive way. From not using chemicals and growing food on site, they have capitalized on a new type of traveler and will find these guests to most likely refer business and be a repeat guest. These travelers know they are participating in "experiential learning" that benefit the environment and provide a more local experience. They are also generating revenue as guests are staying on site and enjoying the local fare, such as food grown on site.

The University of Minnesota offers a graduate-level class called "Event Management in Sport" in which the 30 students create and implement a volunteer management plan for the sporting event the Final Four where an estimated 1,000+ volunteers participate.

This pretty much what we have discussed in class along with the history of  the way hospitality companies have grown so much since the 60s. 

This article describes the development of the GDS, and also introduce its role as a non-air hospitality services marketing channel. The authors introduce the evolution of GDS, and show some points about how hospitality marketing through GDS.

This article goes into depth with the development of the primary electronic distribution channel. Surprisingly, as early as the 1960's travelers and travel agents where booking reservations via letter, telex, or telephone. Most of the reservations for airlines, hotels, and car rentals were conducted via telephone. Because of such an increase in demand of the service, airlines installed computer terminals to reduce cost and increase bookings for the airlines. Airlines believed it would be cost efficient to install such system instead of hiring extra staff. The airlines also predicted that travel agents would reserve more with the airlines that supplied the GDS terminal, which in fact turned out to be true. After, the travel agents became heavily comfortable with the system, they noticed that it could also accommodate to bookings for hotels, car rentals, and travel services. The potential of the travel distribution was obvious and many non-air travel companies became major participants within the system.

Face of consumerism through e-commerce has radically changed in the last few years. Buying or selling through Internet and online shops depending on websites, has become an ordinary part of consumer life today. Higher expectations, less tolerance, more demanding and choosy customers are becoming more common. 

With the development of society, economy as well as technology, customers are becoming more powerful, they have higher expectations, less tolerance, more demanding. In this situation, high quality and professional E-Commerce is needed in more fields. E-commerce solutions are varied, which provide the buyers, sellers, providers more opportunities to run business activities efficient. Revolutionary changes have occurred in tourism and hospitality industry by E-Commerce. In recently years, more agents and organization make the applying of E-Commerce as one important choice to be outstanding. It owns many valuable advantages. It facilitates agent access to market and minimizes the financial information leakage. It provides any agents chances to connect market all over the world. When travelers arrival the destinations, they need huge information, service, facilities, market cash and so on, which all can be obtained by internet. And also, for Hospitality industry, it develops economies, improves trade competitiveness, expands scope and arena, and facilitates people to have direct access to the marketing destinations. What is more, it monitors, evaluates, creates faster transactions by the flexible web services. Thus all the process can be created, facilitated, and monitored by E-Commerce. Absolutely, there are also many disadvantages in E-Commerce. Some information in it may be incorrect or unnecessary. People give important information via internet, so the security problems can't be avoided at any time. If over population come to the destinations, customers may not satisfy the service or the local nature may be damaged. Hospitality industry has to be thoroughly aware of its problems.

This article tackles what E-commerce is in relation to businesses all of the world in the modern day but especially what is occurring in the hospitality industry. How now a days many people are looking to book travels online and the specificity's they are looking for can be featured through the internet. Through these websites provided by companies bookings could be made directly without a third party making the plans or making payments from customers. What's most interesting about this article is about is how it is self realizing and it also highlights the negatives e-commerce can have with the consumer (i.e. too much information given about a destination). But, it does tie in the end how it is a very positive step forward for all business alike and can create more revenue than before e-commerce existence.

This brief article highlights 5 major points of the advantages of taking event registration online since there is still a lot of conern with doing so. First and foremost, peoeple love things being easy and hassle free, and with the inevdible techonolgy that is always around, it is jsut that easy. On top of that, confimation emails will be sent out within 24 hours, usually right after booking, to ease peoples minds that they are in. They get to plan out their event and get orginized in their minds and in real life. A big worry is how secure is this? It is benificial to do your reseach on where you are booking to ensure they are legit and have precautions to make information is safe. Additonally, real time reports allows for the event to understand who is going, deomgrphics, and the amount of people going. Lastly, a growing trend is going green, by doing this they can say they are a green event, if they take other measures, for eliminating paper applications.

Site Minder by GDS experience, serves as good example to better understand the impact of a GDS's impact on the hotel industry. GDS by SiteMinder provides a single point of entry to over 500 000 travel agents across the globe, which means that hotels can target many type of travelers in multiple geographic regions. By connecting hotels directly to the world's major GDS providers - Sabre, Amadeus, and Travelport - and travel agent network, GDS by SiteMinder offers a major convenience to participating hotels. Through this service, hotels don't have to worry about signing up with each one of these providers. Another advantage of SiteMinder is its affordability; there are no commission fees, rather, just one flat transaction fee per reservation. The company offers free services from GDS experts and free technical account management advice which are other benefits. For instance, in another article, in mid-2013, South Beach Group who has boutique hotels in the heart of Miami Beach, decided to switch its 12 hotels to GDS by SiteMinder. After moving to GDS by SiteMinder, South Beach Group representative highlights the significant increase in bookings leading to a growth in annual revenues by17% in 2013. In essence, GDS by SiteMinder advertises participating hotels to more customers globally within an incomparable distribution platform, with real-time and two-way GDS connectivity. As we can see in the article, in 2016, just within 12 months the total number of users of GDS by SiteMinder increased from 250 to almost 900. This article underlines the importance of GDS for the growth of travel industry. With Site Minder by GDS, one can realize how GDS helps increase hotel bookings by placing hotels on more virtual channels (an analogue of supermarket shelves) globally.